Stories from the East

I've been on a bit of a roll with my posts lately. There's just so much I feel like I want to catch up on! 

This here one is inspired by a research I did a couple of years ago on the Russian fairy tales of Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Beautiful. I was read them as a child and they were quite chilling what with the witch who rides in a mortar steered by a pestle, and lives in a house made out of chicken bones that can run! The mad imagination and vivacity of the stories have stayed with me, and have inspired a love for all things Eastern European.

Baba Yaga as illustrated by Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin, riding her mortar back home.

Here is an image I found which I used as a character reference for the old grandmother - look at those eyes!

What I love about Baba Yaga is that she is not considered to be simply evil. She is also regarded with respect as a wise woman, despite her penchant for eating small children. Occasionally she will appear to be helpful, as a guider to lost souls, and seems to embody the saying "you reap what you sow".

Here is Vasilisa the Beautiful, a kind of Russian Cinderella. She is sent out by her wicked stepmother to visit the old grandmother witch Baba Yaga in the deep forest, to collect a flame so as to relight their fires and candles. The hut is built of dancing chicken bones, and a tall fence of human bones surrounds it, skulls glowing on staffs. After completing three impossible tasks, she is given a glowing skull to take home. She happily marries the Tzar of Russia after she weaves him the finest of cloths for a shirt. Yes. That's right.

Some beautiful maidens in their beautiful clothes. I learnt recently that the embroidery is focused on the collar, wrists and other spots likely to wear down as the thread work strengthens the cloth. I actually plan on making a simple blouse based these to wear hiking, as my shirts usually return absolutely shredded. And I want to look a little prettier than I normally do!

I found a website a long time ago (I'm afraid I could not find it again) with these collage/illustrations of the variations in peasant wear across the Slavic regions. They're so charming, and also really rather useful!

Twisted Stories

The past few days have been utterly packed. First there was the run-up to our performance, right down to the insane tweaking that occurs seconds before the audience enter. The following morning I trundled my way to Kings Cross St Pancras where I joined my fellow students and tutors for a whirlwind weekend in Paris.

But first, I must address the performance. Now, I'm not usually one to get excited about actually taking part in a show. Make stuff for it yes, be in it, NO. Well that was my first reaction, but this project managed to work its way into my heart, not to mention the fabulous group I worked with.

To give a little backround on the project, we worked with an outside practicing tutor on creating and performing a site-specific piece inspired by the space and the fairy-tales we chose as a platform. It was an intensive eight-week process that required a lot of editing and compromising skills, but I gained so much from it and I like to think our results were worth it all...

I'm afraid I don't have as many photos just yet as i'd like, but here are a couple of peeks into our piece and some of those of the rest of my class. I also want to say thank you to my Laurel of the fabulous blog A RoRo in London, who came in that afternoon and selflessly posed as an usher for us. Thank you x

A terrified Rapunzel/wife of Bluebeard hacks at her own mane of golden locks as an act of self-preservation.

This long corridor immediately caught our eye, and we decided to place each one of Bluebeard's past wives in front of one of the slim windows, each filled with relics he'd collected from each wife and enshrined. Each woman is tied at the throat by a continuous maroon ribbon that loops from their throats to the ceiling, before tangling in pools between them.

Another group's Rapunzel sits in her tower, streaky mascara and glazed gaze revealing her misery.
Perhaps she is not even aware of her glass prison within a prison? Eerie and beautiful in the way only a fairy tale can capture.

Here we follow another group's take on Bluebeard, as this charming girl in the blue dress leads us on a clue-ridden journey through the college; we see her being flattered by a charming photographer, who then proceeds to click away at us, the audience. Ghostly women line an avenue of black & white photographs of lost women, before she finds his studio (above). From there, she discovers the dark room, and the horror of a pile of discarded dead models backlit by the red lights. Eventually we are led outside where our girl in the blue dress is running for her life down the street, (not in an uncomical fashion).

And of course, the last group who also took to Bluebeard. They had a striking vintage theme, and this particular tableau caught my eye. Their final set was magnificently done, but my photos were somewhat limited to my enormous dismay!

I shall post some more details and some of my discoveries from my janut to La Jolie Paris!

Rapunzel & Bluebeard Inspirations

Just a few images I've selected from my research to share with you.

I absolutely adore the image above, which I discovered through the lovely Florizelle and her beautiful blog Le Divan Fumoir Bohemien.

The tower of Rapunzel? The eternal tears of the dead wives of wicked Bluebeard?

This season, Lagerfeld's paper magic for Chanel Spring/Summer made for a unique collection.

Hair has been an obvious source of inspiration in exploring Rapunzel. I have also been taken by the idea of relics and reliquaries, and the many ways in which we preserve mementoes and keepsakes, making them sacred. These are the locks of two women and those of their lovers, away at war.

The magical work of Su Blackwell... someone whom always seems to pop up as a reference for me. She was featured recently in Vogue where one of her creations was the enchanting scene for a jewelry spread.

Fairy Tales from the Fifties

To celebrate finally getting a television (even if the arial is not co-operating), a small package from dear old Amazon turned up this morning with Albert Lamorisse's The Red Balloon and White Mane. Though I had bought it for the more well known The Red Balloon, I actually loved the story of the wild horses and little fisher-boy set in Camargue, France. 

In both, Lamorisse captures two young innocents seeking escape from a world of corruption and brutality via their chosen mediums - a beautiful independent horse and a magical red balloon. Both keep the boys company in their harsh settings, each ending in mysterious manners that allow the two to return to the supposedly more fair and understanding worlds of their companions - one swims out to sea and to "a wonderful place where men and horses are friends, always", and the other is transported high high up above Paris by a whole cohort of multi-coloured balloons. Lamorisse was formerly a documentary-maker which is evident in his style, and this ability to portray with 'realism' is in harmony with the fairy tale nature of the stories.

Alain Emery, who plays the young boy Falco, had to learn how to ride and for most of the film he seems to be galloping bareback! For the scene in which he is dragged by White Mane through marshes and onto the beach, Lamorisse himself did the stunt double.

White Mane 1952

The Red Balloon 1956

Truly recommend both films - very inspiring and beautiful. Visually, White Mane is stunning as the arid, bright seaside marshes are brought to life in black & white, while The Red Balloon is a colour-saturated feast for the eyes.

Fairytale Otherworlds

This is some of the incredibly atmospheric work of the Spanish photographer Eugenio Recuenco. I can't help but appreciate his use of light and dark, and all of his images have an alluring quality that seem to pull you head first into their worlds. He has had a lot of success particularly in fashion already, and he is very good at keeping his online portfolio updated, so it's definitely worth a look every now and then...

That's me in Lapland after I leave Uni. Just me, the sleigh, and a bunch of nice reindeer hides thank you very much.

Surely faeries exist...

Scrap that last post, THIS is my new bed of choice.

Whot? Everyone needs the odd husky in Lapland.